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Meet the Boss: Robert Kidd, See Scotland Differently

Robert Kidd, with his wife and business partner Heather McKinlay, started the travel company  McKinlay Kidd  in 2003, having had over 20 years experience working for some of the biggest names in the UK travel industry. Their holidays offer tailormade self-drive, independent holidays and experiences the length and breadth of Scotland and the islands. They live in Glasgow, but spend as much time as possible exploring Scotland to find new, authentic experiences. Robert is from Northern Ireland and is looking forward to the launch of See Ireland differently in 2010.

• Where did you go on holiday last summer, and why? Any plans for next summer?

We started the year with a week’s escape to Tobago, staying in the very relaxed village of Castara, catching some winter sunshine (and some unseasonal rain). Of course we travel frequently at weekends in Scotland, combining business with pleasure – it’s a real privilege to have some much glorious scenery on tap. Our main holiday this year was to Italy, where we stayed for a week in an apartment in Venice, researching family history, enjoying the Regatta Storica and Venice Film Festival, then to Bergamo, which we used as a base to take in the Italian Grand Prix.

Next year we will  be celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary in our favourite inn in the truly remote north of Scotland, in Sutherland. For our main holiday in November we hope to visit friends in Tanzania and also stay on Zanzibar – we lived in Kenya for a couple of years in the 1990s and look forward to our “Africa fix” every 2-3 years if possible.

• What is your favourite bolthole in the UK, and why?

We bought a cottage near the Mull of Kintyre nine years ago and recently had it fully modernised. It is five minutes’ walk from some glorious empty beaches, and we try to be there as often as possible, just about every weekend through the summer.

• If you could spend a long weekend in any city abroad, which would you pick, and why?

Chicago – all the buzz of New York, with much less hassle, and I enjoy the live music scene there.

• Please tell us three items that are always found in your luggage.

A camera – we take most of the pictures on our websites ourselves, a sunhat (due to my receded hairline!), and a waterproof – I never let the weather stop me getting out there.

• What one thing would most improve people’s overall holiday experience?

Making the most of local knowledge. At McKinlay Kidd we pride ourselves in helping people to find the places you think you might stumble across, but somehow never do. It’s the authentic local experiences that make a holiday special.

• What has been your worst holiday experience?

My only visit to Egypt will be forever tainted by being horribly ill for three days on a Nile cruise ship. However, a weekend in Blackpool a couple of years ago, was absolutely horrific from beginning to end, despite staying in a highly-rated B&B and eating in the so-called best restaurant in the town. All not helped when my football team (Charlton Athletic) were hammered 5 –3.

• Tell us your favourite hotel: in the UK; in mainland Europe; in the rest of the world.

Several in Scotland, probably the Isle of Eriska ; the Hotel New York in Rotterdam and Shompole Lodge in the Rift Valley of Kenya.

• What is the most exciting project your company is working on right now?

The launch of See Ireland Differently, which will include holidays in Northern Ireland, where I was born and brought up.

• Thank you, Robert.

* See the McKinlay Kidd review .

North Mills Trading Estate, Unit 4 Hounsell Building, Bridport DT6 3BE

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McKinlay Kidd

AITO Tour Operator of the Year 2019 (bronze award) AITO Tour Operator of the Year 2018 (bronze award) AITO Tour Operator of the Year 2016 (gold award) At McKinlay Kidd, we’re passionate about Scotland, Ireland, England & Wales as holiday destinations, and are dedicated to helping independently-minded visitors find the perfect holiday. Recently named Telegraph Travel's ‘Best Specialist Tour Operator 2023', picking up the award for the second time, McKinlay Kidd have spent years exploring. We have stayed in, eaten at, driven through, sailed across, and visited everything we recommend so ...

AITO Tour Operator of the Year 2019 (bronze award) AITO Tour Operator of the Year 2018 (bronze award) AITO Tour Operator of the Year 2016 (gold award) At McKinlay Kidd, we’re passionate about Scotland, Ireland, England & Wales as holiday destinations, and are dedicated to helping independently-minded visitors find the perfect holiday. Recently named Telegraph Travel's ‘Best Specialist Tour Operator 2023', picking up the award for the second time, McKinlay Kidd have spent years exploring. We have stayed in, eaten at, driven through, sailed across, and visited everything we recommend so that your holiday experience is as good as it gets. We offer a range of holidays, from island-hopping and wildlife watching to seafood experiences, classic car hire, and train touring, as well as unique places to stay including castles. Our flexible approach means that you can add your own personal touches or contact us for a unique tailor-made proposal, perfect for special holidays, honeymoons and celebratory occasions.

Journey through Western Isles

McKinlay Kidd's "Journey Through the Western Isles " is ideal for those who want a relaxing self-drive tour ...

Yorkshire & Hadrian's Wall

Carefully designed holiday, touring Yorkshire and Hadrian's Wall by train, including the famous Settle-Carlisle ...

Loch Ness, The Jacobite & Skye

See Scotland's most distinctive lochs, mountains, moors and castles while touring on the world-renowned West ...

Classic Round Scotland by Train

A holiday specially designed for travellers who want to experience authentic Scotland independently by rail...

Outer Hebrides Fly-drive

Fly in to Barra and land on the cockle beach, before heading North through the intriguing Uists to Harris, ...

Grand Tour of Scotland by Train

A leisurely fortnight touring the Highlands and (some) islands, largely by train.

Holiday programmes from McKinlay Kidd

Fly-drive holidays.

Flying makes our beautiful remote islands much more accessible for a holiday of any length, perhaps enabling you to take a short break to explore Shetland and Orkney ...

Island Holidays

Scattered off the north and west coast of Ireland and Scotland there are hundreds of islands just waiting to be explored. Scotland’s most northerly islands are halfway ...

Small Group Guided Rail Tours

With nearly 20 years’ experience taking care of travellers heading off on their own to enjoy the pleasures of our award-winning train holidays and Scottish island hops, ...

Special Experiences

Special means different things to different people, but if we are talking about distinctive, out of the ordinary, exceptional, wow places... …to stay we know a few ...

Train Touring Holidays

If your idea of a care-free holiday is car free, you’ll be spoilt for choice with our great selection of scenic train journeys and longer self-guided tours throughout ...

Trips of a Lifetime

Epic landscapes, incredible journeys, memorable places to stay, local people to meet and authentic treasures to discover along the way. These are our guidelines for ...

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Apologies, enzo/ellie. I thought you were the plant, which Robert replied to. It's quite common, but I apologise for my mistake.

Yeah, but are they good or not? Has anyone used them?

Not even heard of them but that doesn't mean they're not good...

I am also looking at their brochure right now. Their Whisky Explorer tour looks nice.

Any way, McKinlay Kidd planned the Scotland portion of our trip. We told them what we wanted, and they created the perfect itinerary for us. Every transaction that they arranged went perfectly smooth. The hotels they booked were truly outstanding. They specialize in boutique hotels, so I don't think we would have found these gems on our own. They gave us driving directions, which were helpful (we had a GPS, but it was nice to have their directions so that we could see the route on a map). Their restaurant recommendations were flawless. At one point, we were scheduled to leave Skye on a ferry and the ferry was not running that day because of a strike. McKinlay Kidd was on top of it and notified us and sent us an alternate route (we would have figured it out on our own, but this saved us a lot of time traveling to the ferry and figuring out an alternate route). I would recommend their services without reservation to anyone.

I've used them before in the past and they do what they say on the (Scottish Shortbread) tin. Compared to most of the sharks in the travel world they are positively basking

Also, I told your staff SEVERAL TIMES that I am gluten free because I actually have celiac disease (which caused my osteoporosis). And several times I was assured that all of my accommodation had been told. When I got to the Old Pines hotel they had beautiful cookies waiting for me in my room, which I assume were GF. NO THEY WERE NOT AND I GOT VERY ILL. I was sure to inform everyone from then on and no one had been told by McKindlay Kidd that I was Gluten Free. In fact, the Inn keeper at the isle of skye confirmed that Mckindlay Kidd had not informed them that I was GF. Also, at the Inn at skye when I asked about places to walk. They couldn't think of any that didn't require a taxi or bus ride to get to. There was only walking on the road, which isn't so easy since there are no shoulders on the road and there is a fair bit of traffic. Walking on the road there wasn't really a good option for making a long walk. Another reason I left skye and headed back to the mountains. I wanted the highlands, not the islands!!

Hamish was very nice, but not very attentive to my email requests. Seems he gave me the holiday he gives everyone and didn't pay any attention to my request for a walking and active holiday. Since I didn't get my actual itinerary until it was too late--that is to say when I was already in Edinburgh !!--I had NO IDEA I would spend almost all day every day in a moving vehicle traveling. I spent the entire four days motion sick, back hurting from sitting, wishing I could jump off the train and just walk!! I made it clear what I wanted in my emails and trusted McKinlay Kidd to arrange it. Now, I sorely wish I had arranged it all myself.

I regret booking with McKindlay Kidd. Your itinerary of most of every day on trains, ferries, in cars , or vans, ruined my trip (and it was a very expensive one, too).

I wish that Hamish and your staff had just read my email requests more carefully. One long train ride to Spean Bridge and three or four nights there with very short days trips or walks and hike from there would have been perfect. Instead, every day on the train. I didn't realize "the highlands by train" met that you'd hardly get off the train for four days. I thought it meant you'd get to the highlands BY train. I didn't want to drive, so I though I would travel by train to my destination. I didn't think the train was my destination. And it wasn't a nice train either.

The description of the trip was different from the actual trip. I was never told about the long train rides and that there would be traveling every single day. For example, I was given a map of Fort Williams and my itinerary suggested I would have time to explore the town. What a joke! I had a 20 minute lay over and by the time I got in the queue to put my stuff on the steam train the agent said I didn't even have time to queue up for the toilet in the station and advised me to just wait on the train. So, I didn't even leave the train platform.

The whole trip was a bust!

This post was determined to be inappropriate by the Tripadvisor community and has been removed.

The pitfalls of an organised tour!

Probably a lot of it with a bit of research on here you could have done yourself, and cheaper!!!!

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Our mission: creating holidays made differently in Scotland, Ireland, England & Wales.

McKinlay Kidd, launched in 2003 by husband and wife team Robert Kidd and Heather McKinlay, is dedicated to helping independently-minded visitors get the most out of their holiday. We started out in true small-business style in the dining room of our (then) Edinburgh home, and now employ a team of around 20, mainly based at our office in central Glasgow. From day one, our principle has been that we won’t send you anywhere we haven’t been ourselves. Initially we focussed on helping our customers to see Scotland differently, with a range of creative holiday suggestions that could be tailored to specific requirements. We added Ireland in 2010 and now cover the whole of the British Isles, including England and Wales. We started the company because we wanted to help visitors see beyond the landscapes and tourist hotspots of these lands, whether of our birth (England and Ireland) or our present-day home (Scotland). That’s what we mean by holidays made differently.

Personal research

Between ourselves and our growing team, we personally research every area, as far as possible seeking out accommodation that is full of local character and where the owners demonstrate a commitment to customer service to rival our own. It’s fair to say that Robert tends to judge a lot by their porridge or home-baking, too. We strive to uncover the less obvious stories and places to visit, such as spots more favoured by locals. We’ve partnered with some excellent guides, so our customers can really get under the skin of a place, whether in search of wildlife, on a quest for social history or just being regaled with tales of war and greed, love and romance. Of course, things are constantly changing, so we re-visit and keep our ear to the ground. We also embrace and act upon ongoing feedback from our customers.

Contrasting experiences

We enjoy unusual combinations – perhaps this stems from an early recce visit in the Scottish Highlands in the winter, when we spent one day hiking in the snow and freezing in a remote cottage in Knoydart, then the next luxuriating in a hot-tub during a stay at a small five star hotel on a private island. Suffice to say, the latter still features prominently in some holidays but we’ve not had quite so many takers for the former! We continue to search for new and different experiences, from moonlit kayaking off the south-west of Ireland to a day with a creel fisherman in the north of Scotland; from whale-watching off the Isle of Mull to a guided visit to find Northumberland’s herd of wild cattle.

Travelling far and wide

Robert loves his cars, almost as much as his hat, so from the early days we have offered holidays including the hire of a classic or prestige vehicle and we love to try out and recommend different driving routes. We haven’t quite driven all the dead-end roads in Scotland yet, let-alone Ireland, England and Wales, but rest assured we are working on it. Over the years we have learnt that many of our customers prefer to leave the car behind, so we have gradually expanded our range of train and public transport touring holidays, allowing relaxation while still travelling independently. We offer fly-drive trips, too – a great way to reach the Scottish and Irish islands and far-flung places when time is tight.

Back to the beginning

Finally, we sometimes get asked why we have a bird as our logo. Look closely and we hope you can identify it as a swallow. Whilst it has been re-designed, we have used it as an emblem since the very start. The designer originally chose it because swallows fly thousands of miles to return home to Scotland every summer. Appropriate, we thought.

From The Blog

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Personal - human - point of contact from start to finish

Specialists on hand to help plan the finer details

Ask us anything you want to, any time you want to

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Create your perfect trip, individually designed and booked for you

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McKinlay Kidd

McKinlay Kidd is an award-winning tour operator offering tailor-made self-drive, fly-drive and train holidays in Scotland and her islands. We pride ourselves on helping visitors see destinations differently. From island-hopping to castle stays and classic car touring, we never send customers anywhere we haven’t been ourselves. New for 2019 we are offering a range of guided small group rail tours. With the services of an expert tour leader and a maximum of 15 people per tour, personalised service is guaranteed. Recent accolades include ‘Best Specialist Tour Operator’ in the 2017 Telegraph Travel Awards and ‘AITO Tour Operator of the Year’ in 2016, based on over 500 independent customer reviews.

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Castles, Gardens, Skye & Glencoe Guided Rail Tour

• Fully Guided

Places You’ll See

• Introduction
• Day 1 Edinburgh
• Day 2 Scottish Highlands
• Day 3 The Kyle Line
• Day 5 The West Highland Line
• Day 6 Glencoe

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Reviews About This Operator

• Tour Operator McKinlay Kidd 4.8
• Nanda · 8th August 2023 The tour guide Andrew was so knowledgeable !! He took care of us and made sure everyone was comfortable at all times!... Show more
• Jill · 17th October 2022 Fabulous tour guide and drivers, beautiful scenery and very nice hotels. Train was fun but there was a strike on the... Show more
• William · 21st July 2022 Well organised in spite of covid and rail strike restrictions. Tour guide Kieran was was superb with his general chat... Show more

Dates & Availability

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• Upcoming departures
• September 2024
• Sunday 16 Jun, 2024 Saturday 22 Jun, 2024 English Almost Sold Out Multiple Room Types €2,960 Confirm Dates
• Sunday 1 Sep, 2024 Saturday 7 Sep, 2024 Almost Sold Out Multiple Room Types €2,960 0% Interest Instalments Confirm Dates
• Sunday 22 Sep, 2024 Saturday 28 Sep, 2024 Almost Sold Out Multiple Room Types €2,960 0% Interest Instalments Confirm Dates

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• Currency £ Pound Sterling Scotland

As a traveller from USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa you will need an adaptor for type G.

• Unfortunately we cannot offer you a visa application service. Whether you need a visa or not depends on your nationality and where you wish to travel. Assuming your home country does not have a visa agreement with the country you're planning to visit, you will need to apply for a visa in advance of your scheduled departure.
• Here is an indication for which countries you might need a visa. Please contact the local embassy for help applying for visas to these places.
• For any tour departing before 26th June 2024 a full payment is necessary. For tours departing after 26th June 2024, a minimum payment of 25% is required to confirm your booking with McKinlay Kidd. The final payment will be automatically charged to your credit card on the designated due date. The final payment of the remaining balance is required at least 60 days prior to the departure date of your tour. TourRadar never charges you a booking fee and will charge you in the stated currency.
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McKinlay Kidd appoints new managing director

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Heather McKinlay and Robert Kidd, the founders and directors of tour operator McKinlay Kidd, have promoted Zoe Davidson to become managing director.

Davidson joined the Glasgow-based specialist in August 2017 as sales and operations general manager.

She has taken on the overall day-to-day running of the business, while the founders will retain oversight and leadership as co-chairs.

Established in 2003, McKinlay Kidd provides tailormade holidays and small group tours, including rail tours, throughout the UK and Ireland.

Kidd said: “We are on a strong growth trajectory based on our core focus of providing fantastic holidays throughout Scotland, Ireland, England, Wales and the Channel Islands.

“The time is right for us to take a step back. Zoe not only shares our values but has been instrumental in embedding these within our team. “The business is in very safe hands under her day-to-day guidance.”

The company said it has rebounded “strongly” since the pandemic, “thanks to its solid foundation of providing high quality, experience-led trips for both the domestic market and inbound international customers”.

Pictured from left: Zoe Davidson, Robert Kidd and Heather McKinlay.

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Captain Kidd’s Last Stop

• Boston Pirate Trail
• United States
• Massachusetts

Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States

Created By: Simmons University

Information

The Boston Gaol was built in 1635 and for nearly 200 years remained the town and county jail. Those who found themselves imprisoned here included pirates, Quakers, murderers, rebels and the Salem witches. The conditions were horrid behind the stone walls; as Daniel Fowle, author of the 1755 pamphlet called “A Total Eclipse of Liberty” put it, of “hell upon earth, [it] is the nearest resemblance of any I can conceive of.” [1] It took over 150 years for the jail to heat the cells in the brutal winter months and to provide a blanket for every inmate. At the time when the notorious pirate Captain Kidd was an inmate, there were no such luxuries. Born in Scotland in the mid-seventeenth century, William Kidd never anticipated one day becoming one of the most infamous pirates in history. By the time he had reached the age of 30, Kidd was known as one of the most skilled and valued ship’s officers of his age. He was recognized for his achievements and was appointed the captain of a privateer vessel named the Adventure Galley . His assignment was to patrol the Indian Ocean to mitigate piratical attacks on merchant ships. It was during this period when Kidd likely realized that he had little to gain as a captain of a privateer vessel and more to gain as a pirate. Still the story goes that tropical fevers killed off many of his crew, and Kidd started loosing his authority over what crew he had left. When a rowdy gunner named William Moore urged a piratical attack on Dutch ship, Kidd bludgeoned the man, giving him a head wound from which he later died. Unhappy with their ill-success at privateering, his crew decided to raid merchant ships alongside the pirates of the Indian Ocean. [2]

In its most notable capture, the Adventure Galley took possession of the 400-ton Quedah Merchant and its valuable cargo of silk, sugar and opium. In April of 1699, Kidd reached the West Indies. He had hoped that he wouldn’t be recognized, but word of his reputation had spread throughout the Indian Ocean. In trouble with the law, he made his way to Boston on a ship named the San Antonio . On this trip, Kidd made a stop off the coast of Long Island and buried some of his treasures on Gardiner’s Island. Hoping that the (false) French passes that he had found aboard the Quedah Merchant would allow him to claim the prize as valid under his privateering comission, Kidd had reached out to an old acquaintance by the name of Lord Bellomont, who then turned on him and demanded that Kidd be arrested upon his arrival in July of 1699. Kidd held as a prisoner at the Boston Gaol until he was deported to England for his trial. [3]

In April of 1700, Kidd was ordered to be tried for piracy in London. He was sent to Newgate Prison and stayed there for over a year before facing his trial at the Old Bailey in May of 1701. Found guilty of murder and piracy, Kidd was swifty sentenced to death. Kidd was hanged in London’s East End, and shockingly, it took two tries to kill him. For the three years that followed, Captains Kidd’s body hung at Tilbury Point on the Thames River as a warning to all other pirates. [4]

At the time of his hanging, a number of broadsides, serving as public “matters record and biography,” [5] . made an appearance. Popular for over 150 years, these ballads (particularly one named “The Dying Words of Captain Kidd”) were sold and sung by people on both sides of the Atlantic. The legend of Kidd’s buried treasure resonated with people as well as served as the topic for many stories, including Edgar Allan Poe’s tale, “The Gold Bug” in which the main character Legrand deciphers a cryptogram to discover the buried treasure Kidd left behind. [6] Poe’s story, published nearly 150 years after Kidd’s death, was not the end of the interest in Kidd’s treasure: today people still search for the buried gold.

Standing on what is believed to be “the oldest plot of land continuously owned by the City of Boston," the tall concrete building that occupies the former site of the Boston Gaol hides the story of Captain Kidd’s incarceration and Boston’s close link with the Golden Age of Piracy. [7]

—Meridith Dantzscher

______________________________________ [1] Leverett Street Jail . The West End Museum, http://thewestendmuseum.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/01_Panel-Leverett-St-Jail-2-9-15.pdf. [2] Norris, David A. “CAPTAIN KIDD. (Cover Story).” History Magazine 16, no. 1 (October 2014): 14–18. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=31h&AN=98742765&site=eds-live&scope=site [3] Norris, David A. “CAPTAIN KIDD. (Cover Story).” History Magazine 16, no. 1 (October 2014): 14–18. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=31h&AN=98742765&site=eds-live&scope=site [4] Norris, David A. “CAPTAIN KIDD. (Cover Story).” History Magazine 16, no. 1 (October 2014): 14–18. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=31h&AN=98742765&site=eds-live&scope=site [5] Bonner, Willard Hallam. "The Ballad of Captain Kidd." American Literature 15, no. 4 (1944): 362-80. doi:10.2307/2920762. [6] Poe, Edgar Allan, and Jacob Landau. The Gold Bug: and Other Tales and Poems . New York: Macmillan, 1953. [7] Handy, Delores. “From Boston's 1st Jail To Fugitive Slave Trials, 26 Court St. Has History.” From Boston's 1st Jail To Fugitive Slave Trials, 26 Court St. Has History | WBUR News , WBUR, 8 Apr. 2015, https://www.wbur.org/news/2015/04/08/boston-old-courthouse-jail-court-street.

Pictured: Captain Kidd (whose name changed to Robert in the American tradition) burying a Bible in The Pirates Own Book (Charles Ellms: Boston, 1837). The gibbetted Captain Kidd from The Pirates Own Book (Charles Ellms: Boston, 1837). "The Dying Words of Captain Robert Kidd" (Nathaniel Coverly: Boston, early nineteenth century).

**To learn more about the Boston Gaol (Site 10), walk approximately 10 feet west on Court St.**

This point of interest is part of the tour: Boston Pirate Trail

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Moscow Metro

The Moscow Metro Tour is included in most guided tours’ itineraries. Opened in 1935, under Stalin’s regime, the metro was not only meant to solve transport problems, but also was hailed as “a people’s palace”. Every station you will see during your Moscow metro tour looks like a palace room. There are bright paintings, mosaics, stained glass, bronze statues… Our Moscow metro tour includes the most impressive stations best architects and designers worked at - Ploshchad Revolutsii, Mayakovskaya, Komsomolskaya, Kievskaya, Novoslobodskaya and some others.

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The guide will not only help you navigate the metro, but will also provide you with fascinating background tales for the images you see and a history of each station.

And there some stories to be told during the Moscow metro tour! The deepest station - Park Pobedy - is 84 metres under the ground with the world longest escalator of 140 meters. Parts of the so-called Metro-2, a secret strategic system of underground tunnels, was used for its construction.

During the Second World War the metro itself became a strategic asset: it was turned into the city's biggest bomb-shelter and one of the stations even became a library. 217 children were born here in 1941-1942! The metro is the most effective means of transport in the capital.

There are almost 200 stations 196 at the moment and trains run every 90 seconds! The guide of your Moscow metro tour can explain to you how to buy tickets and find your way if you plan to get around by yourself.

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President Strengthens CNU-NASA Connection

Captains contribute to NASA Langley’s mission

by Jim Hanchett | April 16, 2024

President William G. Kelly led a delegation of Christopher Newport University academic leaders to NASA Langley for a tour and a meeting with the many CNC and CNU alumni who work at the space exploration research center.

President Kelly was accompanied by Provost and Chief Academic Officer Quentin Kidd, School of Natural and Behavioral Sciences Dean Nicole Guajardo and Associate Provost for Research and Dean of Graduate Studies Lynn Lambert.

“NASA Langley is a remarkable facility, close to our campus, and its people are so impressive,” President Kelly said after the visit. “It was wonderful to see so many Captains for Life who already contribute to NASA Langley’s critical mission. We’re excited by the potential for more of our students to intern and more of our faculty to conduct research there.”

Lisa Ziehmann, Deputy Director of NASA Langley and a Christopher Newport College graduate, led the group as they visited several key areas dedicated to NASA Langley’s mission to revolutionize aviation, expand understanding of the Earth’s atmosphere, and develop innovative technology for space exploration.

The stops included:

• The Integrated Engineering Services Building, where the delegation met with about 40 alumni.
• The James H. Starnes Structures and Materials Laboratory, where researchers are exploring ways to help people live and work on the moon and beyond.
• The 14-by-22-foot Subsonic Tunnel that is NASA Langley’s largest wind tunnel and is used to test takeoff and landing performance.
• The Aircraft Hangar that was built in 1939 and is home to the Rendezvous Docking Simulator used for the Gemini and Apollo programs, as well as a variety of research aircraft, including a huge Boeing 777.

NASA Langley experts briefed the CNU delegation on the research and purpose of each stop. At the hangar, the speakers included Dr. Jennifer Kibler, Deputy Director for Intelligent Flight Systems and a CNU alumna.

The CNU-NASA connection is already strong. For example, the Master of Science in Applied Physics and Computer Science program emphasizes collaboration between the University and the research center. NASA Langley Technical Fellow for Avionics Dr. Robert Hodson serves on the Department of Physics, Computer Science and Engineering’s Advisory Board . NASA Langley is also avidly seeking CNU students for internship opportunities , including several that don’t involve STEM disciplines.